Relief Agencies Restoring Lifelines To Haitians

As a man of God, the Rev. Henry C. Moise feels compelled to extend a hand to the poor. The hungry. The dying.

Perhaps nowhere does the Miramar pastor reach farther than his homeland, Haiti.

In the past, political turmoil, social unrest and an embargo choked relief efforts by the faithful.

But, with President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return to power on Oct. 15, congregations and church relief agencies are finding it easier to help the helpless.

``It means people will have food in their stomachs, and we can reduce the rate of illiteracy,'' said Moise, pastor of the 180-member Pembroke Road Haitian Baptist Church in Miramar. He visited Haiti with religious leaders in November.

Moise recently sent a box stfed with toys, school supplies and clothes. His congregation regularly collects money for churches in Haiti.

In Haiti, half of all children under age 5 are undernourished. Half of the people don't get enough to eat. Few can read or write. Water is contaminated.

Tropical Storm Gordon added another blow.

Here's what's happening:

-- Since Aristide's return, Food for the Poor, a Christian relief organization based in Deerfield Beach, has sent nearly 2 million pounds of supplies.

-- Early in December, the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board and Brotherhood Commission began an effort to distribute family food packs. The plan also calls for volunteers to repair about 500 water wells; and medical and dental teams will visit. Over the next six months, hundreds of Baptists will take part.

-- The Adventist Development and Relief Agency, relief arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, now feeds 336,000 daily.

"You can send everything because everything is needed," said Ferdinand Mahfood, founder of Food for the Poor.

For years, church relief agencies provided assistance in Haiti. But those efforts became more difficult to implement after the September 1991 coup sent Aristide into exile and an embargo was later imposed.

During the embargo, humanitarian aid was allowed into the country. But some organizations found commercial shipping lines reluctant to participate. Others had fuel and transportation problems.

"Literally, nothing was going. You could hardly ship a box," Mahfood said.

Social upheaval also crippled relief work.

Gangs looted a Catholic Relief Services warehouse, taking food, fuel, even doors from their hinges. Looters took about 1,000 pounds of flour and wheat from the Adventist agency.

Some relief trucks were robbed of food as they drove to food sites.

"People in customs would take everything. There was no effort to get it to the needy," said the Rev. Roland Lamy, associate pastor of Divine Mercy Haitian Catholic Center in Fort Lauderdale. "People in Haiti told us to stop sending things."

But, with Aristide's return and the embargo lifted, church groups are back on firm ground.

Catholics are making seeds and tools available to farmers. Baptists will fix water wells. Adventists hope to resupply hospitals and schools, while also handing out farming materials.